There are days when I cannot believe just how entitled people are...and then I remember that entirely too many people treat customer service drones like garbage.

Recently I had a caller get angry because I told him that I could only credit back three months worth of a particular charge even though the charge goes back further than that. I explained to him that it is his responsibility to check his bills each month, especially after making any changes to his account. He started hollering that it is not his job to keep an eye on his bills and that he is too busy to do that every month. All this over him not realizing that he was being charged for something he apparently didn't want - I had explained to him that if he'd caught it way back when it first started appearing that we could have taken care of it right then. Cue him flying further off the handle and telling me that it is entirely MY fault that <big telecom> was losing a 30 year customer and he demanded to be transferred to retention. Where they gave him all the credits he wanted and then some...credits that I could never have applied, and he didn't deserve either. It's probably a good thing that I do not have the ability to cancel accounts when asshole like this guy say they're cancelling because I would do exactly that.

I had a caller yesterday get all pissed off with me because I had to get into his wireless account after he was transferred to me from internet tech support - the internet account is in his wife's name and while he is an authorized contact, I still had to get the information to even find his cellular account and then authenticate it. Well, you'd think I just cut him off in traffic or something because he started huffing like the spoiled child he clearly was. I explained to him why I needed to ask the information I did, and when he started insulting me he didn't take it very well when I told him to stop it or I was going to disconnect the call. He wanted a supervisor because apparently *I* was being rude to him for calling him out on his behaviour and trying to ensure that I followed correct procedure. Oh, he got a supervisor - I transferred him out of our center completely. And got shut down by whoever got him on the supervisor line. Good.

Today I had a guy call in demanding that I credit him his early hardware upgrade fees because, and I quote, "I'm a long time customer and it's only the nice thing to do." Early hardware upgrade fees are incurred when there is a remaining device balance on your old device and you decide you want a new one (devices get subsidized over a 24 month period via your price plan), and we generally do not give credits for these at my level as we make sure the customer is well aware that they will see this amount on their next bill. I explained to the customer that I was not able to give him a credit for this because he should have been aware of the remaining device balances and that it was listed out in the paperwork he signed when he did the upgrades in the first place. "But I never read the paperwork! I never have time!" I told him that in the future it is wise to make that time and read everything before he signs off on it. At least this guy didn't threaten to cancel his account or ask for a supervisor.

And I am to the point with our store reps that I want to have them all get told off for the lies they constantly tell customers. "Oh! This tablet is my gift to you for being a loyal customer"...only for said customer to find out that he is being charged for the tablet and/or tablet line. "This phone is absolutely free!"...only for the customer to find out that he has a device balance when he tries to cancel the line or do a hardware upgrade. "Sure, we'll waive your connection fee!"...only for them not to do it, and if the customer asks them about it direct the customer to us although all we're allowed to do is direct you back to the store and ask to speak to the store manager. "Call in when you get your first bill and ask them to waive your connection fee because you're a loyal customer!"...only for us to tell the customer that we still can't waive the connection fee because it is a standard fee that EVERYBODY gets charged when the add a line/device, regardless of how long they've been a customer, and that it is store's way to try to get out of losing more money - but we've been tracking this and making sure corporate gets the store information any time we get a call like this. And so many more lies that the store reps tell in order to make the sale...only for the customers to call into us and demand that these lies be turned into truths. It also doesn't help that we can't see any notes that a store rep makes on an account because they use a different logging tool...not that we'd expect store reps to actually make note of all the promises they've made that they have no intention of honouring.

I've been doing call center work off and on for years, and I swear that callers are only getting worse and more entitled. I'm currently looking for another job and hopefully I have one lined up before I snap.

Entitled idiots, and sales agents on commission. Such a great thing apart, and EVEN BETTER in combination.

As to the salesmen... there's enough that don't bother to check or challenge the fees that corporate... may or may not be that motivated on fixing the problem.
Now if you do start getting reports trickling in about these commissioned con artists getting nailed to the wall, then I'm sure that we'd ALL like to hear about it.

Instead of traveling into Fratch territory, might I offer something from the bar, top shelf?

I'm a company's dream customer. I'm not a haggler, and I'll generally accept what I'm offered (or go somewhere that is offering a better offer). So I'm not the one who would be on the phone trying to claim deals or anything.

That said, if I was at a store (like a cell store) and the salesperson was offering me deals like that and I cared enough to make sure I got those deals, I'd make sure it was in writing somewhere on paperwork with the store's info on it. So if there is problems getting the deal applied, I can make sure it is thrown right back at the store to make it so. Mainly based on stories like this.

Not booze, not cars, not real estate, nor race horses, nor military hardware.... the worst excesses of haggling/entitlement arise when trading in...

A gall-darn PHONE.

And, I bet, not even the most expensive. That sort of craziness tends to come out when the real stakes are low; that is, when the tantrum isn't likely to cost them the chance to buy a car or a house, or lose a deal that might affect their status in their field of business. (ETA: There are exceptions, but in the last case especially, they don't tend to stay in business long.)

Cellphones are serious business up here apparently! One of the biggest issues is that you pay through the nose for data - there's no such thing as unlimited data on cellphones in Canada (even though some smaller providers appear to offer it), and any plan with data is damn expensive. It's a large part of why I only have pay-as-you-go, and it's not even with the company my call center is contracted with!

One of the team leaders told us a story today about a missus who bought a used cellphone at a flea market, discovered it didn't work after getting the device home, and then called us saying it was OUR fault that the phone was busted. And then raised a HUGE stink over the fact that we would not cover the cost to fix or replace the phone. Her reasoning was that because it was a phone from us that we automatically had to deal with whatever was wrong with it. The team leader that told us about this actually took the sup call for this and was hard pressed not to laugh her head off as she explained every single one of the faults in the caller's logic.

Yet again I had a guy trying to dispute long distance calls made from his phone, trying to say that he didn't know anybody with the number he had dialed. Even though I went through several previous bills to find that he'd called these exact same numbers several times each billing cycle so they aren't even a mis-dial. I swear I could HEAR him pout over the fact that I would not give him credits for those calls.

Today, though, I had the delight of siccing a customer on a store where the rep gave entirely incorrect information and made offers that we have absolutely no way of honouring. He was a rarity in that he understood why we at the call center couldn't do what he was asking even though the store told him to call us to get what he wanted. Once I explained to him that the store basically ripped him off and lied through their teeth he was surprisingly calm when he said he was going to go down to the store and tear a strip off the rep he dealt with and the store manager, and he thanked me for being honest and truthful as I set him up on a plan that, while it wasn't what the store promised him, it worked for what he needed, even though it still cost more than what he was originally quoted. I was shocked he didn't ask to be sent to retention to get a discount...and I told him that I wished all my callers were like him!

Another missus flipped out over the fact that I would not give her a credit for her connection fee, even after she played the 'I've been a loyal customer for years and that is reason enough alone for you to give me this credit.' I told her that even we do not get the connection fees waived and we work for the company, and even the CEO has to pay their connection fee every time they do a hardware upgrade or add a line! Of course, we also get a 40% discount off our services with this company...if we actually have their services (I don't, and I won't because I dealt with them in the past and it was horrible).

Whoever says that Canadians are nice should do my job for awhile because you'll quickly learn that a LOT of Canadians are complete assholes.

Years ago someone figured out a way to make long distance calls and have it charged to our home phone. My mom argued with Bell for a few weeks, then she came up with a solution.

She had long distance disabled for our phone number. We would then buy long distance cards which in turn was cheaper than paying Bell for long distance calls.

No more padded bills from Bell.

We found another advantage, I would buy a long distance card for me and a different for mom. Result. if my mom ran out of time she could not blame me since I had my own access code.

PS. It did not happen often, but it turned out handy when we had long distance relatives visiting, we pretended to have used up our minutes and would buy them a cheap $5 dollar card for them, that way they could not hog the phone all the time.

Not booze, not cars, not real estate, nor race horses, nor military hardware.... the worst excesses of haggling/entitlement arise when trading in...

A gall-darn PHONE.

Agreed. I don't know what it is about cell phones but they can really set people off. One of our senior managers came over from the Banking industry and he said that he was shocked to find some of our customers to be even worse and more entitled than people who were ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR HOMES.

Quote:

Quoth KuariKaydrith

Whoever says that Canadians are nice should do my job for awhile because you'll quickly learn that a LOT of Canadians are complete assholes.

Greetings fellow wireless warrior! I've worked in call centers for mobile services for a total of 8 years now and believe me when I tell you it doesn't get any better. Also, obviously not all Canadians are nice but it sounds like the wireless customers are just as bad as the ones I get down here. I understand that phones are expensive and that some of the promotions we run can be a bit complex and that people spend a lot of money on these services, but that's not excuse to be a major league asshole whenever you reach out to us for assistance.

I work in a high level complaint department though, funnily enough, I get a lot of the same thing you do: Complaints about fees that were supposed to be waived or promised credits that were never delivered. Only difference is when I get them they are coming from the BBB or a letter to our President or even sometimes from a lawyer. People REALLY take their phones too seriously these days.

__________________
"If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

Yet again I had a guy trying to dispute long distance calls made from his phone, trying to say that he didn't know anybody with the number he had dialed. Even though I went through several previous bills to find that he'd called these exact same numbers several times each billing cycle so they aren't even a mis-dial. I swear I could HEAR him pout over the fact that I would not give him credits for those calls.

I actually had this happen way back in landline days. I had a dialup modem and got some malware that for some reason called an international number several times. I had to fight the local telecom and AT&T to get the charges reversed. I did point out to them look at my history NO international calls prior top this. I am still not sure why the malware called those numbers.

__________________I'm lost without a paddle and headed up SH*T creek.
-- Life Sucks Then You Die.